Cherry Blossom Mini Sessions 2021 | Philadelphia, PA

There’s nothing more promising than the rebirth of the earth during early springtime. The warmer days and the cool breeze seems to breathe life into our souls. This spring season has seemed to promise an even brighter glimmer of hope because of progress being made to heal our world from the pandemic.

Being out in the beautiful cherry blossoms for these mini sessions was a breath into my soul. It was not just being among the magical and serene trees, but mainly getting to meet and serve so many wonderful families. I had the privilege of serving 13 families during these spring mini sessions. I think these two days of sessions gave me more in-person interaction with people than the year 2020 total. It is something that I have dearly missed and I am so grateful for that glimmer of doing it more this year.

The first day of mini sessions required some pivoting and adjusting (much like most things during the pandemic!). Not one cherry blossom was blooming a couple days before these sessions. What to do! When I arrived at Fairmount Park Horticulture Center and got out of my car, it was as if the clouds parted and shone on this one little cherry blossom right next to the parking lot. We had to use it! I promised cherry blossom minis, so cherry blossoms was what my clients were going to get!

All of my clients are special to me. And the C family is particularly special to me. I had the honor of shooting their maternity session (which was just a couple months before the pandemic started!). While we had also planned on doing a newborn session, the universe had other plans for us. So instead, like so many others, we had to pivot and adjust. We got to take 3 months portraits at a local park. And now, with their adorable son almost turning 1, I got to see them again for a spring mini session! It has been an honor getting to see their son grow up and help them document these precious moments that they will always look back on and cherish. I cannot wait to see their sweet boy keep growing up!

A & J and their sweet boy G kicked off my mini sessions as my first family to photograph. I felt so honored to be able to capture the beauty and love that they shared.

Winner, winner! I personally never win things (I’m sure statistically that's probably true for a lot of people!), but our lucky mini session giveaway winner M can’t say that! She wrote me the sweetest note & gave me a sweet gift which included some chocolate. The chocolate did not last past that day!

L, K, & C! Our park buddies! My daughter is slightly obsessed with their son. I’m not sure that it is mutual, haha, but that hasn’t put a damper on my daughter’s persistence. It was so much fun to see them and to catch up on life! This is a huge reason why I love living in the city because of these organic relationships that build from spontaneous interactions.

The A family! This is a fun family who I have also had the privilege of serving before! They had so much fun jumping around, being silly and sharing love. It was a joy to capture their contagious laughter.

M & A were just the sweetest together. While the cherry blossoms weren’t featured in their photos (we made a last minute location adjustment!), their adorableness more than made up for it! I wanted to ask if I could have her dress because I’m kind of in love with it!

The R family was as energetic as they were beautiful. And their color coordination was on point!

I loved chatting with little W about Minecraft (or at least I think that is what it is called?) and getting his sister E to bump into him during their photos together to capture their genuine relationship. They were all so sweet and wonderful to meet!

Onto the second day of minis! Significantly more than 1 tree was blooming which was a huge WIN. When I arrived, I was giggling like a kid on Christmas because of how excited I was to see blooming trees!

The B family and I were essentially neighbors for some time (but we just didn’t know it!). They arrived super early (which is AMAZING and I am SO thankful to everyone who shows up early!) which gave us some time to chat and get to know each other. They are such a sweet family with a sweet little boy.

These beautiful people. I don’t play favorites, however, she IS my younger sister, so she definitely holds a special place in my heart <3 Her baby and mine are just a couple months apart, so I can’t wait for them to grow up together and actually interact when the pandemic is over. Love you TT.

I don’t think many photographers expect kids to be sad when a session is over. However, these kids are the exception to that expectation! They sat on the ground confused and melancholy when their parents said it was time to go. That just goes to show how much FUN mini sessions are and how they are the perfect amount of time for kids!

A photo-hesitant Daddy. Totally get it. My husband hates (too strong of a word? He’d say probably not) getting his photos taken too, so I can relate to those out there who find it blah. However, I don’t think you’d know that about this dad from their portraits! I try to make the 15 minutes super fun and not feel like a stiff formal session, which usually helps bring out genuine smiles and helps my clients actually enjoy themselves.

These were adventurous souls! With their just-turned-3-month-old, they made it out looking perfectly put-together and poised. I was personally so impressed--after I had my first baby I would not have had it all together like they did or have been so brave to bring my babe out. But they totally rocked it and we got some extremely sweet shots of them and their sweet boy.

I cannot wait to serve these clients again! It was a wonderful cherry blossom season, and I am so thankful for all the beautiful families who trusted me with taking their family photos. It’s an honor giving my clients dreamy photos that they will cherish forever.